Registering for an extended warranty is a requirement that many companies enforce.
Update: Why is this being downvoted? Literally from EVGA's website: "Limited Lifetime Warranties are available to the original owner on applicable parts if registered by the original owner within 30 days of the date of purchase." [1] [1] https://www.evga.com/warranty/2011/graphics-cards/
As in, lifetime doesn't mean your lifetime. Or the time you own the card. It means whatever expected lifetime the item has as per the manufacturer. The manufacturer may define the "regular lifetime" of their item to be 3 years for example and then it would not have helped you at all.
I've never registered for any warranties in my life.
I'm not sure if this is a thing where you are. But where I am for example, there are warranties guaranteed by law that require manufacturers to warranty their items for a "reasonable" amount of time (regardless of what their actual terms say). What is reasonable is up to interpretation and different for different items. They do give a few examples for common items like a washing machine but otherwise it's up to consumers and companies to figure this out together and if they can't you can make an official complaint with the government. Helped me w/ NVIDIA who wouldn't replace a broken tablet shortly after their official warranty ran out.
EDIT: No idea on the downvotes, when I started replying there were no downvotes yet, when I submitted there was.
EVGA are particularly generous in this regard compared to others.
I wonder if anyone in a "reasonable lifetime" guaranteed by law jurisdiction has used that line of thinking.
What makes you say that?
Depending on who you ask, a reasonable lifetime for a phone is 2 to 6 years. But if I want to make my customers feel nice and secure I might offer a 10 year warranty, knowing that very few people will actually keep it that long.
I had an 6600GT which died. Over ~4 years, EVGA replaced it twice, the second replacement they gave me an upgrade (to a card one generation newer). Almost 10 years later, it still works.
So the manufacturer must honor the promised warranty, but they certainly have the option to offer an extended warranty at no charge provided that the consumer registers with them.